Well, ’tis the season, eh? I guess I couldn’t leave well enough on a such a good sale that Wicks was having. After doing a bunch more reading, blog surfing and research, I decided to pull the trigger on a pair of AeroLEDs MicroSun wig wag/taxi/landing lights. Although highly unorthodox in a Long-EZ, I plan on mounting these guys on the wingtips primarily as wig wag lights, then taxi/landing assist lights (I still plan on having one good lightweight nose mounted light for landing).
I’ll offer up a few justifications of my purchase here! First, currently when I home in the states I normally fly in the Washington, DC area. Of course DC has some very busy airspace, as does most of the Eastern Seaboard/Mid-Atlantic region. The Long-EZ is of course a small plane with a significantly narrow profile compared to most other GA aircraft. Quite simply, I want wig wag lights because I WANT TO BE SEEN! And as one person noted on a blog (probably VAF), LEDs often tend to be better at getting noticed (seeing the LEDs) then projecting light to actually see what’s in front of them (LED illumination). The AeroLEDs MicroSuns are small, very lightweight, and draw very little power. And they should give off enough light to really help during night landings and taxi ops. Which leads me to point #2:
I like to fly at night. I have ever since I was a kid and flew often at night with my Dad. To me it’s just very peaceful, calm and serene… and I truly enjoy it. I think Dale Martin (another night flying lover) said it best when he noted, “Amazingly enough, airplanes don’t know if they’re flying during the day or at night . . .” (Yes, we all know pilots are the ones that make the mistakes that cause nighttime aviation boo-boos, but I think you understand his point … and mine). Regardless, these will assist both in flight safety at all times and during night flying missions.
My last point of justification is simply this: They were 20% off!!!